Day 1 - Afternoon Session Athletics: European Indoor Championships

What a performance from Katarina Johnson Thompson. She wins the Gold

Medal. Determined and fast. It is a new world indoor record! Christy

storming through, and he gets the gold. On his way to gold, surely. He

has won it all the way. A new world indoor record. She should have the

class to bring this home for Great Britain. Sebastian Coe will have a

remarkable record. Well done, Jason Gardner, four European indoor

titles. She has done it. Bleasdale is the champion. Jackson wins it.

The new European in. Sally Gunnell coming through for a brilliant

victory. Richard Kilty is already moving away. Gold for Britain.

Bringing it home, Great Britain get the gold. Running towards his first

title, it is gold for Mo Farah of Great Britain. Hello, good afternoon

and welcome to the European Indoor Championships from the Serbian

capital, Belgrade. The 14th running of these championships, and we got

underway this morning. Three packed days of action from a place which

knows its athletics pretty well and as you have just seen, a

Championships in which Great Britain has a wonderful history of winning

medals. It is a beautiful almost summer day, I hesitate to say is

spring. It is edging towards 19 degrees. We are sitting warm inside.

This is our home for the next three days. It is a little bit busy down

there already. It holds 20,000, apparently. There were not 20,000

this morning but we're hoping it will fill up. The big hero here is

in the long jump on Sunday. Maybe if she wins a Gold Medal we will hear

the roof raised by what we hope will be a big crowd. As I said, we were

on air this morning and you may have seen some of the action. Now on, we

are on BBC Two this afternoon. Coverage of the main action starting

at 3:30pm. This morning, we should have had the 60 metres hurdles for

men. The first round was taken up so we will be catching up with that

just after 4:30pm. That is what we are doing this afternoon. Tomorrow

it is an early start. 8:30am. Another full day, with two sessions,

live coverage through the weekend. We had plenty of talking points this

morning. The usual way to get in touch if you want to join in. We had

one or two interesting talking points and our team are with us

again. Denise Lewis and Tony and Paula. We have 30 minutes, so we

thought we would look back on the best action from this morning,

starting with the 400 metres. Lina Nielsen was not here, but her twin

and a leashed oil were representing us in the first round.

Nielsen will want to attack hard here. We have talked about the track

that she will have to content with. Out in lane six, every opportunity

to do so. Nielsen, as she goes around the bend will need to pick it

up. She has every chance of leading this. Nielsen comes across, a good

piece of mature running. Much slower than in Birmingham. Look at her

stretching down the back straight, putting pressure on the others. The

Spanish athlete trying to move into second, but it is Nielsen, 20 years

old from Great Britain, stretching away from the field. The top two

will qualify. She is looking good and strong, with daylight between

her and the rest. There is a good scrap for second. That was a good

piece of mature running from the youngster. She got out nice and

steady, didn't panic on the first lap. She had a good lane draw and

could watch everybody else. She moved across nicely and put the

pressure on down the back straight. She got out in front and was able to

cruise over the last 30 or 40 metres. Well done. At this event is

tinged with disappointment because your twin sister had to pull out.

How is she and how has it affected you? We were both gutted. There were

tears on Wednesday. She realised she might have to pull out. We had hope

until last night and last night she decided to pull out because the rest

of the year is really important. She is gutted but I am flying the flag

for both of us. You did well there. We wish you well for the semifinals

later. A real shame for her sister, but

that was a wonderful performance and winning your heat guarantees a good

lane in the semifinals later today. Away this time, and Doyle on the far

outside with the Polish athlete in lane five. Pretty even at the

moment. Who will get the lead at the break, often so important? The

Polish athlete with a little advantage as the bend unravels.

Doyle accelerates a little and takes the lead. Doyle is out in front. Two

go through automatically and six fastest losers. Doyle is in pole

position at the moment. She is not able to break away at the moment,

but in control. She knows where she is. She opens up just a couple of

metres, and she will take the victory and go through. She

looked comfortable enough, Doyle, in going through. Yes, it is

interesting. It looked like a good controlled run, and then you see the

clock stops at 53.2 eight. Maybe the track is a little slow and bouncy.

Colin has something to say. The inside lane seems very tight so a

lot of the time cannot generate enough speed so they are checking

their stride more than normal. That is causing problems with the time.

You can imagine when you are fatigued, the stride length really

shortens. It is more staccato. That is why the times could be a little

slow. Not every indoor track is the same, not only in terms of surface,

but in terms of how tight it is. That inside lane is particularly

tight, so the times are down. But she looked good. It is controlled.

No one really likes the heats, and you have to run hard, but that

looked a comfortable run. What are the preparations between now and the

semifinal? Recover, get some food, a mass side, hopefully some sleep, and

come back later. Let me ask you about coming in third on the

European list. Does it have any bearing at an event like this? Not

really. In doors, it is so tactical, sometimes times don't matter, it is

about running the right race at the right time. I have been used to the

pressure, so it feels a bit nicer coming in ranked number three. Well

done this morning. Those two safely through. Just to

say, in the arena behind us, the opening ceremony is getting

underway. The President of the European athletics Association is up

on the podium and the speeches are underway. We will be respectful but

we will carry on talking about this morning. Denise, first of all, she

is a great talent but sometimes youngsters when they come, first

time in the spotlight they can not necessarily freeze but they can

struggle. She ran so sure Ridley this morning. Didn't she just? I

loved particularly coming off the first bend, we have seen a lot of

hustle and bustle, but she was in control, knew exactly what she

needed to do, be out in front at the bell. That is crucial to a good 400

metres. She has done really well. She has come off two personal bests,

socially is losing in confidence and that was demonstrated today. Doyle,

other end of the scale in terms of experience. I thought she looked

good. She looked as if she ran the first 150 metres controlled and then

had a look inside and accelerated down the hill and into the break and

got to the bell first, as you should do. It looked like a simple tick box

exercise, win the heat, get through and get the lane draw for the semis.

By contrast, in the middle there was another heat which was the opposite.

The drawers, as ever in the first round, there was one tough heat and

a little bit of argy-bargy. That is a look. It involved the French

athlete and the athlete from the Czech Republic. At the end of the

first lap they were breaking. I thought she gave her a shoulder

charge. She stood on the curb and went crashing down. She was

originally disqualified. We can't really see from that angle.

Beginning with you, Denise, she has been reinstated. Comment on that. It

was tough. It was almost a concertina effect. One into the

other, into the other. I thought she came in quite hard, quite severely.

We know there can be a lot of pushing at that point but I think it

was right that she was disqualified. To be reinstated is a big call.

At that point, she should have eased back because there was no room. She

pushed out of the way. The French appealed and she has been

reinstated. We know that the French do like to appeal. I know she is one

of the favourites, let's put it that way. They know there is a strong

medal case for her. It is tough, but she is in. What can we do? She is in

the same semifinal as Nielsen, and she has been given a good lane,

socially is very lucky, if you ask me. We look forward to the

semifinals. Paula, we are going to look at our only representative in

the women's 800 metres this morning. The Ukrainian in lane five will be

the big threat. The top two go through so it is not easy but she

should be OK, Paula. She is wanting to control this, which is not bad.

She talked about wanting a good rhythm. Yes, even if it was slowly

she wanted to be at the front, out of trouble and able to respond as

the danger comes round. The danger is sitting right on her shoulder

now. As we said earlier, that time in Birmingham did put her confidence

where it should have been from the training. Frustration was starting

to come in because she was not seeing the training translate into

racing. Hopefully she will move on with that here. A nice, steady pace,

just under 30 seconds or the first 200 metres. It looks to have settled

down a bit slower than that. At 400, probably around 61. A bit slower

than that. She is where she wants to be. She is in control. What she now

needs to do is to start to stretch them a little bit, not get surprised

by anybody. Exactly. She needs to be ready because the danger will

Cumbrae fast and she needs to be able to respond. Sometimes when you

go out and the pace slows, you can settle into the river man find it

hard to raise the pace and react as the girls come past. She left the

gap on the inside. One or two of these are 400 specialists. She needs

to be careful. She is just stretching out at the front. The

attack comes on the outside and she has to respond and hold the inside,

and she does it well. Shelayna Oskan-Clarke has got to

work to the line. Lyakhova might be run out of this here. One of the big

favourites will not go through by rights. Velvere a surprise package

there. She goes through with a very, very confident performance from

Shelayna Oskan-Clarke. It was one of those races where had

it gone wrong, it was very slow, but she ran it perfectly well. She did.

She looked nervous on the start line. I think that was a little bit

reflected. She looked a bit heavy legged, as if she was burdened by

that desire to make it through to the next round that. Will have done

her a lot of good, how she controlled the race. The way she was

almost expecting Lyakhova to challenge her. Lyakhova didn't look

good at all and went out. Velvere was the close toast her. It was --

closest to her. Even though slow, she was able to hold off the

challenges. She's looking more confident. Without getting too far

ahead of ourselves. Lyakhova is out, the number one ranked European

athlete didn't turn up. She's got a great chance. She has. She looked

stunny. -- stunning. She looked good. In terms of one to watch, Kyle

Langford is one of our most talented youngsters. He gave us a fright in

his qualifying round. This is Kyle before the race. Paula, we can talk

through this here. He sometimes, you know, he's such a talent. He's got

pace and so much ability, but he has to learn even in the heats of the

European indoors, you've got to be on the case. He has to learn that he

has to be able to think and process more than one thing happening around

him and react to it quickly. Here he got himself into trouble so many

times in this race. At the end, he was sprinting the last 100 metres.

He just needs to be able to not rely on his talent. It's OK at European,

first round he can rely on the talent to get him out of trouble. If

he makes mistakes like this on a major championships, through the

rounds, he's going to struggle to make it farther. He should push on

here. This is where he loses his position. He's looking around, but

they're all in front of him. Why look around. He should be looking to

get into the right position to react. This is why the championships

are so important for someone of his age to learn how to deal with this.

This is a great finish, but the danger was already before, he should

have been more in contention. Yeah, it's all about learning. I think

that's why people around Kyle were so keen that he come to the

championships, even though it wasn't in his original plan in. This

situation, you learn that it's not just about time trials. It's not

just going out and running UK records for 600 m, running well in

Birmingham. It's about negotiating the rounds and being in the right

places and making those decisions. He's just learning. It's probably

the first championships he's come to indoors. He's stepped from juniors

and miss aid year last year. It's a valid point. I hope he does learn.

I've heard that, even in his interview afterwards, it was as

though, what's wrong? What's the problem, I got through. But

sometimes he needs to realise he needs to be better than that.

Somebody who has learned from her experiences at the Indoor

Championships going back to the Europeans and the worlds was Laura

Muir. Laura this morning was on the beginning of a long journey this

weekend. 45 laps of the track. Heats of the 3,000, heats of the 1500

today. All she wanted to do was qualify this morning. She did that

easily. She did. What she wanted to do was qualify as easily as

possible, expend as little energy as possible. She was in the tougher

heats. They were running quicker than maybe she could have got away

with in the first heat. I don't think she looked like she expended a

lot of energy out there. She looked controls and displayed, I think,

she's learned a lot from those previous championships that we

talked about, the ip doors and disappointments -- indoors and

disappointments. She went out before and was in floods of tears but she's

learned. The race today, she didn't enter into trying to qualify

outright in one of those. She calculated even as closing the last

100 metres that she didn't need to fight for fourth position. She was

just looking at the clock and knew what she had to do. Hopefully she's

gone away, rested, recovered, eaten something and comes back ready to

get through the 1500 metres with the ease as she did in the rounds today.

You and I were walking in this afternoon and one of the British

fans said, is Laura Muir OK, she was fifth. Yeah, she's fine. She knew

what she was doing. This is the battle for second, third, fourth and

fifth. Top four through by rights. Laura going through as a fastest

loser, but that was calculated that. Was two Scottish athletes through to

the final on Sunday. The third of the Scottish athletes, Eilish

McColgan, she was going in the first of the two heats. She's been in good

shape. She's been suffering, we were told, with a cold coming into this.

I thought she looked good. She looked really good. She has been in

very good shape out year. She went to Doha at the beginning of the

year, then in Kenya. Raced person pests on the roads, 10,000 metres.

Then on shorter distances as well. Here I think she looked really good.

Koster took the opportunity to stretch it out a bit. When Eilish

McColgan needed to she wound up the finish and she reeled them in with

ease. I think she didn't really show any ill effects of that cold. It was

more adjusting, as she says, what did she call herself, a rather tall

creature or something like that. That's exactly what she said. It's

difficult when you have as long legs as she did and the stride, she has a

wide arm carriage, and it reaches a long way. She takes up a lot of

space. It's an adjustment getting used to running on the smaller 200m

oval. She's not experienced by her own admission indoors. That race is

a great prospect, Laura Muir, that final comes on Sunday. Three of them

in it. In between Laura's got heats in about an hour or so for the 1500

metres and then the 1500 metre final before she comes back for the 3,000

final on Sunday. It's a big ask. That's reflected in the fact there

were eight people originally declared in the 3,000 metres and

1500. Only Laura has taken the decision to actually try that. The

moment they announced there were heats for the 3,000 and 1500, that

increases the demand on the athletes so much. With only being a three-day

championships it makes it tough. That's what the other girls will be

hoping for, the only way really I can see them being able to challenge

Laura is if she's bitten off more than she can chew and she can't

handle that. Eilish McColgan has a strong chance of neecking in with a

medal. Steph as well. Can I ask a question, is it wise that she's gone

for this double? She says she's going to do it in the summer, with

the 15 and 5,000. She's in the shape of her life. I think she's setting

challenges, I'm answering for her here. I think herself and her coach

Andy Young think she's capable. She wouldn't do it if she didn't think

she was going to win two gold medals. Doesn't that make this the

dry run. Yes, it is a bit of a dry run. It's not the same, Paula would

say. It's much easier in the summer to double up. Easier! She's a busy

athlete. You two would argue it's the multieventers who are the

busiest. Pentathlon takes place in day one. We have the Olympic

heptathlon here. She brings through the trail legs and runs off it. You

see some of the other girls put it down and balance off it. She's been

really active. She opened up really with a 22 point improvements here.

That's a great start. In the high jump, her coach was saying that he

hadn't done a lot of high jump. It looked rusty. She's rotating on the

floor, shoulder goes in. Her clearance was a bit ragged, still

196, fantastic. A bit shaky in the shot. The first round want

particularly brilliant. Then she responded with a throw over 15

metres. I think overall, based on her personal best, she's probably

about 120 points ahead of schedule than before. That means she's into

4,900, 4,960, if she goes a bit better in the long jump and the 800,

the world record is on. Absolutely, she's very good. She's a tall girl.

Great high jumper. It's wise that she doesn't do too much jumping in

training. She doesn't need to. On the day, she's a two metre jumper if

she can nail it. She's clearly got stronger. What's interesting, being

fortunate enough to be in the infield, she walks around, she knows

the business and everybody realises who the top dog is in the field now.

I think the other thing is because she's so much better, you're out in

front, you get to relax and you just do your thing, whereas everybody

else is tuftling for silver and bronze behind you. It will be

interesting to see. Talking of which, I'm not sure who top dog is

here, I'm going to award gold, silver and bronze already... No I'm

not! These are the meldals. They're quite chunky. They are. Serious

piece of hardware. Very nice. Five of them on offer today, including

that pentathlon. Thiam favourite for that. What we did before we came on

air, we asked the guys, I joined in, let's have a prediction contest

across the weekend. Here's what they've gone for: I like that you've

gone five. Ambitious. I'm a Sunderland supporter. I've been

miserable all year. I'm being positive here. Yeah, you know, seven

bronzes Toni. Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. I wanted to go 13 in total. Can you

not add up then! No, I thought be conservative. I remember Paula and I

did a prediction once and we were so ambitious. Things do happen, it's

sport. Three, we could actually squeeze four golds. Toni is right.

Can I pressure you into, I'm giving Laura Muir two gold medals, I think

she with win two. I'd like to see Andy come away with something in the

60 hurdles. He's world lead. Into a lovely run of form at the moment.

He's going to have serious competition with the French

hurdlers. But he's looking good. Toni's gone for volume. Denise and

Paula for quality. I've hit the middle of the road. This is the

Europeans. We have a lot of people ranked highly. It's time toe just do

what the -- to do what you do on the ranking list, you have a right to

win medals, so take them. If we are going to win the meldals, there's a

lot of work to be done. Here's what's on offer tonight:

Straight out there now with Andrew Cotter and Colin Jackson.

First semifinal of the women's 60 metres hurdles. They are lining up.

Harala of Finland. Loncarek is the 15-times Croatian champion, eight

times indoors. Yeni N'Gbakoto of the Netherlands. Has run 8. 03 this

season. Four go through to straight semifinals.

Good Dutch team here for these championships. Plotitsyna, the

Ukrainian athlete, eight seconds dead in the heat. Ukrainian indoor

champion this year. Finished strongly in her heat. The defending

European champion, Talay. Took the title in Prague a couple of years

ago. Bronze at the worlds as well, indoors and out. This is perhaps the

third of the Germans, Lobe, she was third at the German indoors. Hope it

doesn't end here for Kallur, this is her final competition. She retires

after this. You want her to make it to the final for all she's given to

the sport. It's a rough time she's had with injuries throughout the

years as well. She's 36 now. Still the world indoor record holder. Er,

said -- holder, set in 2008. European junior silver-medallist

couple of years ago, the Hungarian athlete.

Plotitsyna, alongside Susanna Kallur.

Susanna Kallur will have her final to say farewell. Alina Talay, again,

looking strong. And the Germans to come. With Pedersen as well. They

will be taking note of Alina Talay and her efforts because she looked

impressive. It was very good running. Different to the heats,

where I felt she was under control and ran very sprightly to qualify

well. Now she has gone over one metre faster in this first

semifinal. You can see she is pleased with that performance as

well. Not out of the blocks as sharp. But she keeps her form and

runs off the barriers well, strong. And I think that's comfortable. I

think she has half a yard left in her. That was a good time looking

fairly comfortable. She had good starters alongside her. Perhaps that

would have shocked her, how fast the Ukrainian got out in front

straightaway. But she kept cool and worked hard of each of the barriers.

There was no letup in between, exactly what you want to do. If you

are going to cruise, cruise when there is nothing in the way.

Plotitsyna was on a personal best, so a good run by her. It is going to

be a good scrap with the Germans in full flight. Susanna Kallur, and not

sure she made it. Four qualify, socially does go through. -- so she

does go through. The final is 7pm in the UK.

This is something you do not often see, the pole vault warming up and

that happened. Not nice for him. The poll was at full bend and snapped

into four or five pieces. I think he was relatively unhurt. He did seek

medical attention. More of a shock to the system. You could not help

noticing that the event favourite and his team-mate, the Polish

athletes, were laughing. I think some of that is out of nerves. It is

something that all pole vault 's dread. Look at that, at its full

tension. Real questions for the German. He will have to gather

himself. It is a nasty gash to his knee and his hand. He will have

other polls in his bag, but he will have to muster some optimism for his

opening attempts. The Olympic champion from Rio, as expected, out

in front, some 257 points ahead of the best of the rest in Europe.

Ivona Dadic from Austria, a personal best. Murmurs of world records for

the Olympic champion. There she is, getting ready for the long jump, the

penultimate event in the five. As expected, she is dominant,

unchallenged on a bit of a procession for gold, it would seem.

The long jump is about to start. As we wait for the second semifinal of

the women's 60 metres hurdles, to confirm the results of the first. A

personal best for Plotitsyna. Well, these semifinals really are

putting them to the test, because this one has the two quickest up

until we came to these championships, the two Germans,

drawn with each other in lanes three and five. Isabelle Pedersen, who won

this morning, is between them. Lots to watch out for, but the middle

lanes... Four will go through, so you would probably think those four

should. No fastest losers. Pedersen was not so good out of the blocks

this morning but looked smooth after that. .Gov itch, she is having such

a great season. I would not expect either of the

inside lanes, unless we have more false starts, as in the first round

this morning. I am tempting fate. And now, some real challengers from

her own country for Cindy Roleder. She is in lane three. Then the

Norwegian, Isabelle Pedersen, former world junior champion. He called her

personal best outdoors last year with 12.8 six. 7.98 already this

year. She was eight seconds exactly in qualifying this morning. Pamela

Dutkiewicz, this is an ideal event for her. She is a good starter. Who

knows, come the final, that could be important. A really good

heptathlete, the Dutch athlete. And a new personal best in qualifying.

We talked about false starts and Herman went through because there

were four people disqualified in her heat. World junior champion. 19

years old. Those four lanes in the middle. They

will be the ones who will think, no problems here. Just get through, get

this semifinal out of the way. The final, right at the end of the

evening, just before 8pm here. Pamela Dutkiewicz got a good start

again. Cindy Roleder has work to do. But these four are pulling away and

it is Cindy Roleder who wins. I am not sure Pamela Dutkiewicz was

really going flat out all the way. She got a decent start and Cindy

Roleder was also out well. That went with the script pretty much, didn't

it? I was studying hard, watching how these women would approach the

race. I reckon probably four of the top five in the final word in this

semifinal. When you talk about imbalance in the semifinals, that is

the luck of the draw and that is what happens at major championships.

Those German athletes will be there or thereabouts. Cindy Roleder did

not get the sharpest start but she stayed cool, a good, clear head. I

is in front, focused well on every barrier to make sure there were no

respect -- no mistakes. She did that very well. Watch her in the final.

Do not write her off from running a world's best. It was a really weak

first stride. She nearly just stepped out of the block, the

German. Once she got into the groove, she is a real danger. That

final will be exciting. It could be a blanket finish. Are you going to

call a one, two for Germany? I can tell you are looking forward to it

and I am pretty sure you are looking forward to the men as well. They are

effectively semifinals. Round one is coming up but they did not have a

round this morning, so it moved straight through. We will speak to

Andy Pozzi in a moment. He is running so consistently well,

so consistently quickly, time and time again, and he destroyed the

field. It has gone from strength to strength. I started with my quickest

ever season opener, close to my personal best, and I was expecting

it to build slowly. In the next race, it took one tenth of my PB. It

took on another level and other -- I had some good wins against good

competition. Describe what it is like when you were not able to put

in the hurdling work last year, and this year you have. It is just

consistency, being healthy for a long time and coming from a better

base. Pozzi was all over the place. The race was there for him, he had

the speed but did not clear the barriers. I was disappointed with

the way that the Olympics went. I came away in the weeks and months

later with more context and I felt, if that is where we are with limited

preparation, it bodes well for the future. 60 metres hurdles is very

strong in Europe, so I am going into it knowing that you need to be the

best in the world to be the best in Europe at the moment. There are a

couple of non-Europeans running well, but typically the Europeans

are great at hurdles. At the Olympics, two of three medals were

from Europe. That brings the event on an means I am striving because

the competition demands it. I have been senior and at a high level for

five years and I have very few medals for it, with the amount of

injury. Hopefully now is the time that will change and you will see me

on the podium more. You are still only 24, we should remind ourselves,

not past it. Yeah, I flew onto the scene at 19. With the interruptions,

it feels like I am about 40 at times but I still have a long time ahead

of me, so that is good. Andrew Pozzi sounding confident,

just replacing the first barrier head of the first heat. Just two

races required for whoever should take this title, because there are

exactly 24 men declared. One more and they would have required a round

this morning. But looking to go straight through to the final. The

first of three semifinals, if you can have such things. Andrew Pozzi

is in great shape, and Colin, we are starting to see him approaching his

best because he has been clear of injuries. Yes, one of the most

important things without letting X -- with athletics, if you can get a

couple of years injury free and put in the work, you can learn your

trade. The only time you can learn that is when you stay injury free,

and Andrew has managed that so well this year. What a difference it has

made with his performance, from someone who just makes finals, to a

world leader. A long way clear of the rest at the moment in time is,

certainly in Europe. 7.40 three. He comes in as the man to beat. That

brings its own pressure, of course. Second at the French indoor

Championships. Second behind his compatriot who goes in the third of

these heats. 7.53 this season. In recent seasons, they have produced

such strong hurdlers in France. From the Czech Republic, a former

European champion. Alongside Andy Pozzi, twice forth at world indoor

Championships, despite his injuries and problems. You saw what happened

to him in Rio at the Olympics. All sorts of foot surgery. Six in five

years. Clear of those problems now I'm running well. -- and running

well. A better crowd this evening than in the morning and it will

perhaps grow over the weekend. The venue holds 20,000.

A good start by Andrew Pozzi, was it beyond a good start? He looked

sharply out of the blocks, it was a late call back. We've had a few of

those in these championships. Starts that have looked good but have come

back. We're looking anxiously on Pozzi's behalf at the reaction times

on the board. Anything below a tenth of a second. Colin Jackson holding

his breath. It looked to be a good start for Andy Pozzi. It's difficult

to see from here exactly who's moving. I'm waiting for the

statistics. Pozzi was certainly first to rise. Who pushed on the

blocks first. That's what the starter will be looking at. Still no

times yet come up for us, for the reaction. Maybe we can get them now.

Lane eight has been given the shepherds crook. Parakhonka. I'd

like to see the replay again. It's pressure on the pads, though. So

Parakhonka farewell. Adds to the tension. He knows he's

good enough to win this title. But barriers literal and fig aTiff to

overcome. -- figureative. First of three heats for a place in

the final of the men's 60 m hurdles. Well that time... I was looking at

Shamatryn alongside Pozzi. It certainly wasn't Pozzi that time.

It's been a theme of this opening day, the number of false starts,

Colin. We've had many, which is really unusual. We usually see more

false starts when there's a long gun hold between the set position and

the actual bang of the gun. Here it seems to be quite quick. I don't see

why they're so undisciplined. That's the only thing I can put it down to

- lack of dis-Palestinian. I'm going tick -- discipline. I'm going to

stick my hand in the air, here I am. It looked like Shamatryn alongside

Pozzi. Again, can't find reaction times, let's look at the replay.

Just a little rise from Shamatryn. Farewell Shamatryn. Right two gone.

Reluctant to leave, but again, even on such a small margin, I think he

probably knew. Yeah, you know, the key thing is once they put you in

the set position, you've got to hold still. You cannot be moving your

feet in the blocks. We saw then on our really slow motion there, that

his feet were continuously moving on the block. He's being shown the

reaction times. So back to the start we go. We've lost Parakhonka and

Shamatryn. Down to Manga, Reynolds, Fofana, Bayer, Pozzi and Svoboda.

Away they go now. A good start by Pozzi after all that. Moving along

well. So too Manga. Pozzi takes it. Quick enough after all that, after

the false starts and the pressure that will bring. That was a very

impressive run from Andy Pozzi. Manga and Svoboda were battling for

that second automatic qualification. No doubt about the winner, Andy

Pozzi moves through. Most important thing is that you qualify and

qualify well. He's done all the fast running this year. He's already put

himself in the position of being world leader. Now he only has to

focus on trying to take this title on. You've got to play a little bit

safe. When you're as fast as Andy is, he can afford to have a little

bit more caution in his performance. So it was good, it was nices, with

all the things that were going on around him. He eased his way

through. He could have caught that final barrier with his trail leg.

Most important thing is that you get through well. Out of the blocks,

nice, sound. Clattered that barrier there. Moving through the field.

Clips that. No worries, he's through. Right now he's with Phil.

Thanks a lot. Andrew, a nervious start there, two false starts, how

do you keep your concentration that n those situations? It's not the

first time we've had that this season. It's about focussing on what

you're doing. I'm happy to callify after a couple of false starts. You

come straight into the semis hows that for the mind set? It was a

messy race but halfway through I knew I was coming clear and should

have finished stronger. I will be ready for the final. The business

end now, high hopes for you. But you have high hopes of yourself. You put

no more pressure on yourself than the rest of us do. I'm here for the

best performance of the season. I go for that later. We wish you well for

the final. Cheers. Svoboda alongside Pozzi will have to

see if he goes through as one of the two fastest loser. 7. 52 for Andy

Pozzi. Only Legarde and Ortega have run more quickly than that this

season. Pozzi has run 7. 43. That clip of the final barrier and still

with the 7. 52, it augers well for Andy Pozzi in the final, which takes

place #. -- at 7. 10 UK time. Nafissatou Thiam takes the runway in

the long jump. This is the fourth event. Way out in front as we've

been saying. Has been brilliant so far. Three events this morning.

Would have taken some lunch, a bit a rest and this first event of this

afternoon. Looks as though she's gone beyond six metres for sure. Has

a best in excess of 6. 50. If she can get out there, we are talking

world record is in range. Behind the board somewhat. Wherever this is

measured lots to add. It's 6. 23. A good start for Thiam. Two more jumps

to go. This is Krizsan, in fourth place

after three attempts. Looking to wake the legs up and get

back into the competition after a couple of hours of rest. A busy

morning, a unique day in having all five events within the space of one

day. Krizsan looks athough she's around the six-metre mark. Sideways

at the end there. They all know that Thiam's kind of got this in the bag.

Every other athlete is battling for the minor medals, including Krizsan.

Here's the Hungarian team-mate of Krizsan.

Looked laboured, slightly on the approach there. Third overall after

three events, as we come into this penultimate event, the long jump.

Thinking of the pocket of a medal for sure -- possibility. A lot of

the athletes look as though they're getting a safe jumping here,

including Thiam. That looked fairly comfortable for her.

Zsivoczky-Farkas around the six-metre mark. She's a 6. 30 jumper

at her best. 6. 6.06, in third place.

STUDIO: The next semifinal, well effectively a semifinal shortly. But

these are the qualifiers for the final later tonight. This final, the

women's hurdles final, before the men's. As Colin was saying, we had

four of them in the same semi. That's shaping up to be a great

contest. Kallur has made it, great to see that. In her retirement race,

that will be. So David King has a tough one here, in lane three.

Having a good season. New best of 7. 63. That puts him in Europe's top

ten, including his team-mate, late withdrawal last week, leaving the

way open a bit for Darien. At the Olympic Games, talking about

Ortega, took the Silver Medal in Rio. Already in very good form this

winter, 7. 48, only himself as Pozzi under 7. 5.

Just to remind you, only the top two guaranteed. There are two fastest

lieuers spots. -- losers spots. Ah, Baji. There hasn't been a long

hold from the set. What on earth is he doing there? He's an experienced

athlete. I don't have any sympathy for anybody who has a false start,

you know that from me. Because it's all about just sitting there. You

know what you need to do. You just react to the gun and that's it.

There's not much else you need to focus on at that time. Doesn't

matter how nervous you are, you've been here time and again. It should

not happen to experienced athletes. He's in the form of his life. You

can understand somebody thinking, if I don't get a good start, I have no

chance. He's in great form. This is a packed semi, and that can add to

the nerves. But not when you're experienced. Just sit in the blocks,

you know the release of the gun and wait for it, look at that.

So here we go again then. We had two disqualifications before getting

under way in the first of the semifinals, well, it's the semifinal

round, there are three heats technically. David King, coached by

James Hillier, 22-year-old, 7. 63, second in the Birmingham Grand Prix.

Ortega, Olympic Silver Medallist closest to the cam ra.

-- camera. Cleanly away. The Pole got away. But look at this, Czykier

leading. Trajkovic, what a race from him. That was a surprise. Ortega not

the best out of the blocks. But, well, Baji must be looking at this

and thinking goodness me. If you said, who's going to win this race,

you wouldn't have picked hip. #7 -- him. An improving athlete, improving

this season. But a new national record. He's just knocked a chunk

off his personal best. Something, well, he's a Cypriot, but I have a

funny feeling maybe he lives around here. There's some odd flags waving

there. This is the way to qualify. Put

everything behind you, come into a championships with everybody at

zero. You just do what you can do. He produced another personal best

and another national record. Lots of talent around him, but he produced.

I am thankful to Andrew Cotter for pointing out that he was born in

Serbia and his family moved to Cyprus when he was nine. That is his

extended family to see him here today. He was hitting hurdles, too.

Really good start, driving out. The two of them started well, he and the

athlete next him, but he did. Ortega has that smooth Cuban style,

literally flawless. Those two are through, and there is David. Let's

see how he did. Lots of pressure around. He knows this is a

high-quality race. He would have to be close to his best to qualify. No

real mistakes. Just rattled a couple of barriers and the last one really

through him, not allowing him to get into a strong sprinting posture. He

can see why he is frustrated. He came to a major championships and

wanted to do well. No fastest loser spot for David

King, unfortunately. Straight into a semifinal round and

that was a hot one. Yes, I drew the short straw. I felt all right, quite

good. But everyone around me was better than me on the day. I am

fairly happy with how I handled myself but obviously I would have

liked to have made the final. I am quite happy with my season. How big

a part of the learning curve is this kind of event? It is massive. My

second ever senior championship. It is really good prep for outdoors. I

am grateful to be here. I am glad to be running personal bests this

season. Is there anything that has surprised you? You can't ever take

for granted that you will get through. I came into the competition

thinking I could have made the final, probably should have made the

final, and you can't have that mindset. I guess respect the big

names and just try to beat them next time. Thanks for talking to us. All

the best going forward. Thanks very much.

The pole vault Matt is out. We saw that accident earlier. The world

champion from Germany at the centre of the screen. Eurovision style

introductions for the pole vault. They are enjoying this, a bit of the

spotlight. The Croatian athlete, 26 years old. He is in shape. He is in

form. Stanley Joseph of France. 25 years of age. Other athletes of

moat, the two Polish athletes. -- other athletes of moat.

While those athletes are being introduced, back to the pentathlon,

a fascinating pentathlon, turning into a bit of a one-woman show.

That looks better. She gave herself a good chance of letting loose. 6.23

in the first round. Gave her the opportunity to open up a little bit.

6.37, it is an improvement. Let's have a look at this. Well, that is

an improvement. World record possibly in sight, and one jump

remaining. We saw this athlete from Hungary,

the older of two Hungarian athletes competing. Sixth in the World

Championships two years ago, eighth in the Olympics last year, so has

been a bit part player in the past. 6.06, her opener but she has

improved with 6.1 two. That is a season's best for her. The women's

pentathlon is really hotting up, with just the 800 metres remaining.

There is a possibility of a medal for her.

It is a busy evening in Belgrade, it is all happening. The hurdlers have

had to wait some time while the introduction to the pole vault was

going on. David, ready opens up in this one.

7.63 this season is a new personal best for David Omoregie. The Spanish

athlete was once from Cuba but realised that support in Spain was

better so transferred his allegiance.

France could have three in the final.

There is a lot happening this evening. The pole vault is to one

side. It is crowded on the infield. David Omoregie in lane one. This is

the third of three heats to go through to the final of the men's 60

metres hurdles. David King has missed out. Andy Pozzi is proved.

Two go through only automatically. Fastest losers at the moment start

at 7.5 nine. David Omoregie might have been run

out of that. We look for the time. If he was run out of it, I don't

think it was fast enough for David Omoregie. He was just about there in

second place but Martinson was finishing so strongly. It is going

to be close but I think David Omoregie is not going to go through.

I think you are right. Looking at that time. You are right. He has

probably just missed out. He crashed into the first barrier. Did not set

himself up well enough. It is crucial that you do not clatter the

first hurdle because that is where you are just accelerating, and you

want to be literally perfect, flawless. There was a stumble from

Contreras on his first stride and that was his race over. Yes, it does

not take much. It feels like the field is flying away from you after

that. There is nothing you can do to get back into your rhythm and put

yourself in a competitive position. David was out of the blocks, driving

hard. He was a bit close, which was why he clattered the first hurdle.

He drifted outside his lane. That is kind of normal in the hurdles. They

will not worry too much about it. They will battle with you.

Sometimes, when it can cause a clash of arms, but he was so far in front

that he had no problems. Let's hear from him with Phil. Frustration must

be the keyword. Clattering the first hurdle. It is a case of what might

have been. I was disappointed. I have come through since trials and I

felt I could make the final today. I am not sure what happened in the

heats before. I will have to see, but not the best race.

Unfortunately, there are two times quicker, so you will not make it

through. What will you take from this experience, particularly the

start of the race which Colin was talking about, hitting the first

hurdle, losing momentum? Hitting the first hurdle can definitely give you

a disadvantage. You need to accelerate and hitting that gave me

a disadvantage. Disappointing, but overall indoors I have been running

personal bests, so I can take that and prepare for the outdoor season.

With -- we wish you well. Well, it is so busy. We have the

hurdles being tidied up, shot put down there, long jump qualifying,

pole vault, and now on the track, the 1500 metres. I am hoping that

photographers have moved. You cannot sit in lane one! It is not the

hurdles. Important, another race for Laura Muir, just 4.5 hours after her

3000 metres heat this morning. This has plenty for her to think

about. Very talented German athlete, a big name of the future. 20 years

of age. She is a front runner, full of heart and ability. She can run

800 as well. She ran a relay recently indoors. She is not slow

either. Cross-country champion, and a real talent. She is up against

Laura Muir. There is the local favourite, very popular on the

circuit. Two time European under 23 champion at 1500 metres.

Laura Muir has had a bit of time to recover. She is in such good shape.

There has been a change of draw, which I am checking, from what we

initially had. Because that lady was not meant to be in this heat. They

have definitely redrawn this. Laura Muir is still in there. I will bring

in Paula in the second, once they get underway. The team-mate of the

Polish athlete here was meant to be in this. Very different athletes. I

wonder... I would not be surprised if they try to make this pretty

quick, because they have nothing to lose. They know Laura Muir's ability

and how quick she can be, and there are only two who qualify by right. A

bit of a change in for. They have set off reasonably quickly.

Klosterhalfen, not surprisingly, near the front. They have switched

around quite a bit. Bob Asir is in there as well, and I think she has

been swapped. Hopefully Laura was aware of this

and it was not sprung on her on the track. It should not affect her

tactics. She is running at the back, conserving energy and staying within

striking distance. She will probably be happy if they move it along

quickly and do not leave it down to the last 400, for her to raise the

pace of a decent pace is easier than for the other girls, socially should

handle that fairly well. As soon as she moved up on the outside there

was pushing and shoving. Klosterhalfen, I always enjoy

watching her run. She is a bit like Laura Muir, not as developed, but

she is exciting to watch. I know the Germans are full of expectation for

what the future holds for her. Who knows, maybe longer distances, but

she is no slouch at 1500 metres and is now just on the inside in the

lead. She is dangerous and also very brave. I remember watching her take

it out hard in a junior event, not afraid. Very much as Laura Muir

would often run. She is an exciting talent with a huge range.

Klosterhalfen leading. Kaya in second. Laura pure taking -- Laura

Muir taking closer order. Very, very slow. That's almost 5000m pace,

certainly 3,000 m pace. Laura won't mind that. She's in exactly the

right spot. She won't mind that. I'm not sure Klosterhalfen will really

mind it. She's pushed on a bit. She's seen that and decided to race

the pace a bit. Wait for the cheer when Terzic puts herself in

contention to qualify here. The arena will wake up a bit and get

behind her attempt to qualify. I think that the seeding judges or

seeding panel have not done a great job with some of these races. They

need to look more at outdoor performances, when athletes haven't

raced indoors. They've taken just her split en route to longer

distances. 400 metres to go. It's all beginning to stretch out a

little bit. Terzic is still there. Kaya has gone out the back door.

Terzic has given the crowd something to cheer about here. The top two

guaranteed of course. Out of those three, I would expect Terzic to be

the one who might miss out. She's gone very early here. Klosterhalfen

will try to hang onto her. She's not blessed with great acceleration, the

German. Laura Muir is. She moves into second place. 200 metres to go.

Three of them, only two qualify. It's very slow, so whoever finishes

third here may well lose out. Terzic striking hard down the back

straight, Laura Muir looking comfortable. Klosterhalfen will not

give this up, though. The German is still there. Laura Muir is looking a

little bit tired. I think she's going to be OK. Klosterhalfen will

try to attack again. Laura Muir looking comfortable. Just checking,

there's a bit of danger there. It will be tight on the line. Laura

Muir makes sure. Terzic goes through. And Klosterhalfen well,

third place. Three fastest loser spots, so many Laura Muirs in here,

it's hard to pick out who was winning that. Her fan club up there

will be delighted. That was a bit of hard work in the end for Laura. Not

surprisingly she ran an 8. 8.55 3,000 metres four hours ago. One

thing Klosterhalfen doesn't have is track acceleration. She's strong.

But too much of a gap to make up. She will have an anxious wait now.

Klosterhalfen there a bit like McColgan, takes her a bit of time to

get up to top speed. Terzic knew that in a flat-out 400 metres last,

hard push, Muir and Klosterhalfen would probably get her. That's why

she took it so early. She was tying up. Looking frantically at the

screen there down the home straight. Just enough to hold on. But only

just. There was a chance that Klosterhalfen had caught her on the

line. I think Laura had to work hard there, but not too hard. She left it

a little bit tight in the final 50 metres for my liking any way. Well,

they were certainly happy. I wonder if Laura saw that, she's with Phil

now. We rarely see that, that's quite a

fan club you've got. I take it you know some of them, do you? I don't

know! I can't see their faces. A big section of British fans over there

as well. What's it like to have that support behind you when you're going

for the double out here? It's great. I was with the Serbian girl there,

you saw the crowd's reaction to her. It's great to have support. It

really helps when it gets tough. You've had to be in two mind sets

today, this morning trying to get through and conserve energy. You

knew you had to race tonight. You had to cover every move there as

well. What's it been like to negotiate that journey today? I had

to, this morning, it was difficult. Obviously you want to qualify,

there's no point in wasting energy. I looked at the times and knew I was

safe. Just came through enough to qualify. Then today I didn't want to

leave it outside top two, because you don't know what the heats were

going to do. I did enough to qualify. Hopefully legs will be all

right tomorrow. I know Paula Radcliffe talked about the heats

today, the most stressful in a way, now you have the finals, you can go

for it and do what you came here to do. Yeah, you want to get to the

final first. I'm glad that's out of the way and looking forward to

finals tomorrow. Well done on getting through both rounds today.

We wish you well for the first final tomorrow and look forward to

speaking after that. All the best. Thanks very much, cheers. I think

looking at that slow motion, she looked more comfortable than maybe

during the race. Just we were concerned a little bit. But she

looked very comfortable indeed. Terzic with a new indeer national

record. Well done to her. Klosterhalfen, two more races to

come, she's got a chance with that time.

Dadic bronze medal last year outdoors. Having a fantastic day so

far, three personal bets from three, the long jump, first round 5. 98. A

bit down on what she's capable of. This is the second-round attempt.

Oh, that's better. It's well over six metres. In fact, it's 6. 6.41,

wow, that's another personal best. That's four out of five. Dadic

stamping her authority for possibly the Silver Medal. Thiam of Belgium

still way out in front. Surely can't be caught. But Dadic absolutely in

great form here in Belgrade. The next heat in the women's 1500

metres. Sarah McDonald goes here. They are rattling through the races.

They lost a bit of ground earlier today with the false starts, a few

this evening as well. Look out for the yellow vest of

Sweden and Bahta, two go through automatically only. Mageean will

have her work cut out. Sarah McDonald has a strong chance here,

if she puts herself in the right position and she's able to use the

speed she has in the closing stages. It will be about what they decide to

do early on, have they looked at the first heat and are they moving at a

quicker pace? She ran so well in the UK championship, Sarah McDonald to

take the title. Just holding off Eilish McColgan there. Say this for

Steve's benefit, she's now a Birchfield Harrier and pretty well

positioned at the moment. A slight benefit of knowing the pace of the

first heat. There's one to come after this. That time of Konstanze

Klosterhalfen 4. 10. 37. Three fastest loser go through. McDonald

just sitting alongside Sidorska of Ukraine. Mageean was happy to see

Bobocea put into the first heat, I'm sure. Looking better today. Sarah

McDonald is placed well, tracking Bahta. Difficulty with Bahta is that

she does have the quick change of pace if she chooses to use it and if

in shape, she can fluctuate a lot if she comes in great shape to the

championships. She looks composed. She's starting to labour though. A

slight figure Sarah McDonald. Moving into a good position behind Akdag

and Mageean. Two go through automatically. Sarah McDonald doing

things properly at the moment, getting herself in the right

position. Akdag takes the them through. Mageean is running strongly

at the moment. We mention that she took the bronze medal at the

European 00ships last year in Amsterdam, in second, behind Akdag,

with Sarah McDonald well placed at the moment. Three laps to go. Get

the feeling that Akdag is starting to slow a bit. You can see them

bunching up behind her. Mageean chomping at the bit wondering

whether she should go past her and take it on. Then that means she's

towing the others around. The decisions of a middle distance race.

Akdag beginning to look a little bit uneasy, not quite as strong. Mageean

is well placed. So good McDonald. Mageean looks to her outside. Two

going through automatically with 400 metres to go. Sarah McDonald in a

good position. Has to come wide around Bahta at the moment. She's in

a reasonably good position. Bahta will move wide as she tries to go

around. That means Sarah McDonald will have to run a bit further.

Bahta is quite a wide arm swing and that's dangerous for Sarah McDonald

who's trying to get past her and use as little energy as possible. Going

to have to wait and make her move on the straight here. Stepping out

there, that takes something out of the legs. Bahta jotles her way out

in front. Now McDonald is struggling. Two to go through

automatically. Three in front of her. Akdag is spent. Instead Bahta

in front. McDonald working hard to get on the back of Mageean. These

two are strong contenders for the first two places. Mageean holding

on. McDonald making a kick now. Bahta in front. Mageean, McDonald,

gritting her teeth and driving on. Trying to get in the top two.

McDonald has her on the line, just. Bahta takes it, McDonald goes

through as the second-placed qualifier. That was, at times, she

was a little bit unsettled and out of position. That was a brave run.

McDonald will go through to tomorrow's final. You have to say, a

tremendous achievement by Sarah McDonald. She had it all to do with

50 metres to go. That was a very gutsy run and a big step up for

Sarah McDonald. She did what she came here to do. She wanted to come

and learn at a major stage about progressing through the rounds.

There were a couple of times in the race where she looked very uneasy.

She was getting shoved around. She wasn't where she wanted to be. She

was able to react and come through. Let's have another look at it. She's

seen the result on the big screen. This is where she was. She had so

much still to do. She did. Even at this point, where us, Bahta moved

around. Barysevich pushed her back again. You could see the concern on

her face. She composed herself. She was closing on them a bit. She

pooled every ounce of energy she could find. Down the home straight,

she didn't panic. She just moved wide and she could sense that

Barysevich was tying up. She ran through to the line, no looking

around, no looking for clear qualification, she worked hard

through to the line and she's rewarded with a place in the

finalment Almost -- final. This was a great finish to the line. Watch

her entrance stage left. Barysevich thinks she's got it. And there she

is, the Birchfield Harrier through to the final with that effort on the

line. Now she's talking to Phil. I think there's one delighted woman in

front of me. That was a tremendous burst of speed to take you through

to the final. Yeah, I knew I had good closing speed. I needed to use

that. I t was pushy, I got elbowed a lot. I had to rely on my instinct to

get round and swing down the finish line. I didn't know if I'd done it.

A relief when it came on the board. Now you have, the realisation that

you've made the final. What does that mean to you? Now I've made the

final, I didn't think it would happen, go away and recover and get

ready for tomorrow. At the start of the day, did you believe this was

within you and this would be the target today? Yeah I knew I was in

great shape. Coming here and doing that was perfect. You always have to

have that idea in your head that's possible. When you're seeing what

Laura Muir is able to do on the world stage right now, must be great

inspiration to people like you coming through? Yeah it's really

inspiring, seeing how great she is over 3 K as well. It makes me

believe British people can do that kind of thing. It's great.

Congratulations to you. See you in the final. Thank you, see you

tomorrow. Well done Sarah McDonald. She's

through to the final. Not much time to pause for breath

literally. Because this third heat already, they're running again a bit

behind schedule. The false starts at the beginning of the evening. So

Ennaoui should have been in Laura Muir's is in this one. Ennaoui, the

diminutive Pole there a well known kind of front runner. She's got her

elbows out already. Look at her, wanting to give herself a bit of

room. Gega now steeplechaser. She's moved up to steeplechase with decent

effect. Gega, the Albanian. One thing, Paula, two pretty good

runners, who know what's required in terms of time. Sarah was just

outside 4. 12, 4. 13 will get you through. It is, but the other girls

need to wake up here. I think it's going to be Gega or Ennaoui pushing

to the pace. On paper, Ennaoui has came out of these switch-arounds

with a much easier heat than she would have been in the first heat

against Laura Muir. This is definitely an easier run for her.

She's been in good shape so far. She's been training well. She really

feels that should Laura show any chink of weakness, she can jump on

that and take the title from her this weekend. She's trying to run

this race and conserve as much energy as possible and Gega front

running, as we often see her. Maybe that suits her more in the

steeplechase, but certainly indoors it's no harm in being out front

running. You won't have any wind or anything like that to contend with.

Yes, she is leading, but as you said, she's not running very

quickly. Kerry O'Flaherty is 30 years of age, the Irish athlete, and

she went thanked me for telling you that. Kerry just closing the whole

group up there, getting closer behind Gega. Ennaoui on the curve.

The one other thing though, the likes of Gega and Ennaoui, Ennaoui

is quite quick but you give the others a chance if you go to slowly

because their ability isn't as fast but they can kick. You have to be

careful about. Absolutely, somebody with a slow personal best on paper

might be able to quick much, much faster and if they've never been in

a slow race against them, they wait know that. I think that's like Gega

has taken this opportunity to get it moving a bit. It's not a really slow

pace here. They are moving along pretty well. Yes, just through,

passing 1000 metres this time round. Was Lallana ran a personal best of

410, quicker than her outdoor best, so she is obviously in good form

this winter, so looking comfortable in second place. Ennaoui then tucked

in behind her and the Swede, Nilsson in fourth. Kerry O'Flaherty is

tailing off. The first two places and the three fastest losers spot.

Klosterhalfen is looking like she may get one of those. The pace is

starting to pick up. If Ennaoui starting to rock a bit or is it just

her ponytail swishing behind her? No, she is still very composed and

it is Nilsson who has moved a little bit wide to launch her attack

earlier so that she can get herself at least up contending with these

two over the final lap. Yes, this will be interesting because they are

getting within that range there. So, Gega, Ennaoui now starting to move

to the front with 200 metres to go. The top two only go three. Gega

could be under pressure as the poll picks away, have a look behind, see

that she has got space, open act, but Gega has not totally got rid of

the Czech athlete. Ennaoui is constantly looking behind but she

needs to concentrate the route ahead. She has got one in this bag.

Ennaoui looks again. Gega looks like she is going to take second. That

time, I think that is going to mean that for the athlete in third, I

think she will be out of there, because there were two people close

to Sarah McDonald and Klosterhalfen from the first heat, I think they

will both read as fastest losers. We will tidy that up for you shortly.

But Ennaoui looked pretty good. A good strong finish for you there and

those two I think are worthy to we expected to go through. -- were the

two we expected to go through. Yes, they worthy to expected to go free.

Ennaoui looks very good, doesn't she? She's a very good confident

runner, isn't she? She knows she is in very good shape and she would

like to really perform hair, take it to Laura Muir and I think she thinks

her strength is amplified by the fact Laura has chosen to double up.

Ennaoui looked around a few times in that last lap, didn't she, showing a

bit of weakness there. The athlete in third was unable to make up the

ground on Ennaoui -- on Gega, despite her showing a bit of

weakness. This confirms who goes through. None of the others in that

heat will go through as fastest qualifiers. Two from the second heat

and Klosterhalfen will go three instead. Thiam approved in the

second round that she had the length and this is the final round. She

just strength -- stretched into that and decelerate it just a tad, maybe.

Yes, she knows. That 6.37 looks like it will be her best. I was hoping

full ball because a view more centimetres would put her in touch

with the world indoor record. What a talent in the Olympic champion we

saw come of age last summer in Rio. Taking control of this European

Indoor Championships. 6.23, the best in the second round.

While, she is fighting for a place on the rostrum as well. At the age

of 34, she might be destined for the rostrum. Her lifetime best in the

heptathlon was in Rio last summer. 6.12 in round two. It is 6.38 in

round three four Farkas. An improvement. Those through into

second. Really close between Farkas and Thiam but Tadic the best of all.

The world record possibly incite though. We will have to wait and

see. The 800 metres still to come. Here are your overall scores. 4106

for Thiam. She will have to run the 800 metres of her life, somewhere in

the region of two point 14 if she wants to make an assault on that

indoor world record. Possibly an interested spectator of that would

be Morgan Lake, who will be going in the high jump. Qualification about

to get under way, despite her relaxed approach there. She spoke to

Steve yesterday. Morgan Lake, competing here in the high jump.

Obviously there is a pentathlon here as well. Our whereabouts are you?

Really aware of it. I will be jumping and qualifying at the same

time as the pentathlon is on, so I'll have a little bit of an eye on

it and focusing on the high jump. Of course, you are world junior

champion in both. But the Jouvenaar mindset that you would just focus on

the high jump here? I have had a bit of a -- what put you in the mindset

that you would just focus on the high jump here? I have had a bit of

a change in mindset and with focus on my training, so I am focusing

just on high jump here. I have moved up to Loughborough for university

and changed coaches, so there has been a lot of change there. But I am

really enjoying it so far. Coming back to your aspirations for this

weekend, what can you do? What can you achieve? I don't know, really.

Obviously I am hoping to jump high. I jumped my personal best, 1.94, I

haven't done that since 2014 and I'm hoping to get rid of that now. In

terms of the ranking in the competition, I want to do well

personally as well and make the final. That is a big game for me. We

will see what can come out of that. Looking forward to the summer and

widening the chat out to the multiple events, to the heptathlon

outdoors and the retirement of Jess Ennis-Hill. Hal where'er you of the

scrutiny you were under and the scrutiny of your performances so

far? -- hal where are you? I haven't really given it much thought, to be

honest. Obviously Jess being out of the picture will be weird, going to

heptathlon and her not being there. But I think it's quite nice how me

and cat are now going to be a bit more there and we still have her

legacy as well. What is the dream for the London world Championships?

I would love to do both the heptathlon and the high jump there.

Is the timetable friendly enough for that? It just about works. Not that

much space but hopefully I can do it. Well, there is Morgan. Denise,

she is still only 19 and it feels like we have been speaking about

Morgan Lake for such a long time already. What about her decision to

just do high jump indoors and do the full heptathlon outdoors? Is that a

good thing? I think it's absolutely a good thing. Morgan has got to put

to bed all the negative experiences that she is experienced in

heptathlon. I think competing in Beijing last year for the high jump

gave her such a boost, such a lift, the continuing that positive vibe,

going on to the indoors is really important. She talked about

transition between moving from working with her father in Slough

and that area, moving to Loughborough working with her new

coaches. It seems to be working and fundamentally she needs to be happy

again and take on some new instruction, which she's embracing.

Studying is still really important to her as well and cheat managing to

dovetail back in Loughborough. She's in a good place right now. We know

that she's good at the high jump. Hopefully she will have a good

competition here. But in terms of the summer, Steve asked her, is she

aware of the attention? What would be a good summer for her? London

world Championships, lots of will have expectations. Expectations, I

think that's been part of the problem by people -- why she has not

been able to relax and enjoy her hat Aplon. She is so young with so much

to learn -- enjoy her heptathlon. Her long jump is very good when she

hits the board, she has got speed to work on and there is much more to

improve on. First and foremost for Morgan, it's the mental freeness

that she needs to get the best out of herself for heptathlon. Well, a

good high jump here in Belgrade will help that. She's about to get under

way and out on the track, about to get under way, the women's 400 metre

semifinals. Yes, and the athlete in lane one has withdrawn, making

things slightly easier for Eilidh Doyle. Two will go through

automatically. Doyle and Hejnova would be the

favourites to take those two qualifying places, having had some

epic battles. There is Hejnova. She had injuries after Beijing,

scuppering her fitness ahead of Rio. She finished fourth there. Eilidh

Doyle, former European champion in generic. A finalist in Rio. Her time

not too impressive but there is more to come, I am sure. Holub was second

in the Polish Championships, so they will have a strong four by 400

metres. Putalova has been a finalist at both

the Europeans and the worlds. She is on the inside now, with the athlete

withdrawal. So, just two to go through to the final, this is the

first of three semifinals. The final is tomorrow. Doyle starts as one of

the favourites for this, alongside Hejnova, and Doyle has the advantage

of being able to work on the outside.

The first of three semifinals in the women's 400 metres. The way they go.

Eilidh toil away fairly smartly. There is a break towards the end of

the first lap. There is often quite a battle, a tussle at the break.

Harder to pass on tighter, indoor tracks. Zuzana Hejnova trying to get

a squeeze on Eilidh Doyle. They are a long way clear of the rest. These

will be the two to go through. Eilidh Doyle and Zuzana Hejnova so

experienced and so strong. The gap is closing a little bit and Zuzana

Hejnova starting to rock. Eilidh Doyle looking for it. I think Holub

might have got there. She timed her run and it might have been timed to

perfection and Eilidh Doyle might be out. Just two to go through. I think

she knows as well. It is our high risk strategy that if you decide you

are going to take on Zuzana Hejnova in the first 200 metres, they are

both quick. That is as quick as I have seen Eilidh Doyle attack. She

has been running very well, so she has every right to do that. Where it

went wrong was the last 40, 50 metres. Zuzana Hejnova chose not to

fight Eilidh Doyle and relaxed in behind her. The of them were being

attacked by Holub. Zuzana Hejnova perhaps sensed there was pressure

from behind but Templeman croquette driving. Holub had the momentum to

take her over the line in second place. -- Eilidh Doyle. I wonder if

she had slotted behind Zuzana Hejnova, whether the two of them

would have stayed in front. Eilidh Doyle might have been trying to lay

down a marker for the final. Sadly she will not be in the final. In

slow motion, you can see Holub coming through just as Eilidh Doyle

starts to tie up. She was crying out for the line to come. Holub timed it

so well for the hugely disappointing for Eilidh Doyle. Zuzana Hejnova

goes through and Holub goes through and Eilidh Doyle does not. She will

throw everything into the relay. There was a bit of a margin in the

yen will get her thoughts. You saw how close it was. Were you aware she

was chasing you down? I do not know what was going on. I was just trying

to get to the line as quickly as I could. I am gutted. As Andrew said

on commentary, the least you would have expected was to make the final

and hope to content for a medal. I knew I had to go out hard. I knew I

had to try to win the race and make it difficult for the girls. I wanted

to try to win so I could get into the final. Tim not make the final is

heartbreaking. -- to not make. You will have to come back now for the

relay. Will be something to look forward to? It would be my chance to

try and get a medal with the team. So, yes. I have tomorrow to look

back and have a look at this race and forget about it and move on to

the relay. Thank you for talking to us. A deeply frustrating result. She

was not drawn into the confrontation, Holub. Just two going

through and six in the final. Eilidh Doyle goes out. I said that was a

high risk strategy. We're going to see Nielsen in the third race.

Eilidh Doyle made the point that your chances in the final can be won

and lost in the semifinal because of the lane draw. Eilidh Doyle went for

it, Chi absolutely did and just ran out of legs at the end. Not in the

finals. We had three coming into these championships. Sadly, Nielsen

had to pull out with injury before and that might affect the 4x400 team

but her twin sister is in the third of these semifinals but none of them

are easy. Lea Sprunger is definitely the fastest and the favourite. Sara

Slott Petersen, the Olympic silver-medallist at 400-metre

hurdles. Tamara Salaski will get a big cheer from the home country.

This is the Ukrainian, Olha Bibik. She ran very well in qualification.

Sara Slott Petersen was involved in the racing. The three of them came

and the Frenchwoman was reinstated after initially being disqualified.

Sara Slott Petersen finds herself in lane three with Debra Sinan is in

lane two. The Mediterranean under 23 champion from last year. -- Sananes.

A big cheer for Tamara Lasalle -- Tamara Salaski. There are plenty

400-metre hurdlers, including a Lee Childs. -- Childs.

Justyna Swiety in lane five. She was fourth in 2014. At the Europeans two

years ago, she won the bronze medal. This year, she has run quicker than

ever. She might have to go at least that quickly to make sure of a place

in the finals. Lea Sprunger leads the European rankings with the

quickest time. Lea Sprunger started very quickly. Justyna Swiety from

Poland watching had disappeared down the back straight for the now

beginning to get into her running and moving away from Olha Bibik.

Sara Slott Petersen wanting to get into the race or quickly as she

cancelled that you can see the intent of the Swiss Ashley on the

outside. She is well ahead here. Remember what happened in the first

semifinal. Peterson again grappling for second and again in a scrap with

the French athletes. Debra Sinan is -- Sananes having to give way. The

battle between Peterson and Justyna Swiety for second place. These two

closing slightly on Lea Sprunger. You do not often see that in the

400, looking comfortable. Justyna Swiety comes through to take the

second spot. They were the two, in terms of form and outside lanes and

they were expecting to come through. I think it was a little bit easy for

Lea Sprunger. To be able to look round, as she did, in the home

straight, she will be happy to have made it through. A sigh of relief.

She is through to the final. No doubt she was the favourite. I was

impressed with how Justyna Swiety ran. She did not panic. She waited

and waited and knew that Sara Slott Petersen would be coming back to her

just slowing more than Justyna Swiety was slowing. Justyna Swiety

maintained almost an even pace. Justyna Swiety with a masterclass in

measuring and judging the 400 metres. Sara Slott Petersen is the

athlete who pays the price. Lea Sprunger very strong. She had a big

lead for the she did not fade as Zuzana Hejnova and a Lee Doyle --

Doyle in the first heat. I would not want to get into an

elbowing competition. Sara Slott Petersen does not make the final but

does get a season's best. Now for the last of these semifinals. Lavlai

Nielsen is now the last Briton standing because her twin had to

withdraw. The race was redrawn and she has lane six, which makes a big

difference on the indoor track. She is a huge talent. We can have

another look at her this morning. What I liked about this morning, if

you think of Birmingham, she had 24.1 and attacked it hard. This time

more than a second slower but it looked comfortable and control. Then

she stayed strong. Against better athletes, to get to the front in the

first 200, you must go quicker. She is learning all the time and running

with real maturity. Just watch the action coming into the home

straight. Looking very good. Keep driving forward. That is pretty

impressive. More of that tonight and she will make it through. You

mentioned the endurance she has. When she and her sister used to run

distances, that was the initial choice. Someone spotted that might

be useful at this distance. Lavlai Nielsen has the quicker leg turnover

and she is more suited to this race. She goes in lane six. It is ruthless

at this stage and only two go through to the final tomorrow.

Floria Guei was reinstated after initially being disqualified. On the

outside, you get an idea of the banking on the track. Not as severe

as some of the indoor tracks, which can throw you a bit. Inside is

Floria Guei. She was disqualified after a little nudge. No news on

that incident. It looked a nasty fall that she was taken off to

hospital. Baumgartner certainly has a chance. -- Baumgart.

Lara Hoffman is inside her. Took the German indoor title for the second

time last month. We have already seen the strength of the German

team, particularly in the 60 hurdles.

I mentioned the line-up with two going through automatically. Floria

Guei is a great relay runner. For those who may have seen how race

this morning, they were -- would consider her quite fortunate to be

here. She was reinstated. On the outside is Baumgart, looking to make

it a hat-trick of Polish women in the final, which is tomorrow.

So, running blind on the outside is Laviai Nielsen. Trying to go so fast

and trying to get to the break first. How will Laviai Nielsen run

the race? A strong start by Baumgart. The three outside, Floria

Guei, Baumgart and Laviai Nielsen leading them out. Laviai Nielsen has

gone out strongly. A bit of a stumble. You can see the effort that

Baumgart is putting in. A huge gap for the rest to try to close. Laviai

Nielsen looks to be fairly comfortable. Floria Guei has judged

it well and put in the finish to take the victory. Tempo map are

trying to get the victory for the better lane in the final but she

will be a true as a qualifier. -- Laviai Nielsen trying to get. They

qualified a long way clear of the rest. Not as tough a semifinal as

the previous one macro. Elko yes, well done. The youngster

is three. Just a pity she didn't win that, because with the winning time,

she would have got one of the best planes. Just not quite holding on

here. Guei, well, she's a very good athlete and is definitely a

contender foreign athlete, so Vlaar via Nielsen is as close to Guei as

she is here, of course, the problem is she will be in traffic come the

final. -- is Laviai Nielsen is as close to Guei as she is here. If she

goes in to a deal with the others, as she will do, it's a bit of a

lottery as to which lane she gets, which means she can't attack too

hard come the final. That's tomorrow. Tonight was about getting

to be final. You can see how she tried to react at the end but it was

too late in the race. Just wasn't able to hold her off. 8.5 out of

ten? Am I being harsh. Nine out of ten. She has done brilliantly to get

to the final. You can see the result there. She has just about got her

breath back and she is with Phil. Yes, she is just about getting her

breath back, Steve, but breathless or not, I'm sure you're delighted to

speak to us after reaching a final on a like this. I can't believe I'm

European finalist. I wanted to try to win that semi and I voted all the

way. I'm so pleased I'm European finalist! We saw what happened, with

Eilidh not making the final, from a regime where expected to come

through. You, with your lack of experience, relatively, took that in

your stride. It was just a consummate performance. Yes, I mean,

I spoke to my coach about this and I was really nervous coming into this

and he said, don't make it any be bigger than it is. At the end of the

day, it's just a 400 and that's what I trained for. I try to stay as calm

and relaxed as I could. I'm over the mean that I have a final tomorrow.

And in that final, the likelihood is you might be one of the indoor --

inside lanes, possibly in traffic. How will you address that with your

coach? I'm going to fight it. I'm absolutely going to find it. I'm

gaining my confidence slowly but surely. I will die on the line

trying. One thing you have underlined is that you belong on

this stage. Thank you. Thank you so much. There wasn't much easing up

from any of the semifinalist winners there and if you look at them,

Laviai Nielsen has the fourth fastest time so she has a chance of

a medal. But as she says, delighted to make the final. Really busy on

the infield here this afternoon. You can see the athletes out for this

high jump qualification. Morgan Lake, Britain's only athlete in this

qualification process. 21 athletes, the bar, 1.8 one. A good start for

Morgan Lake. That is her opening height. 1.93 as automatic qualifying

or top eight. -- automatic qualifying. All top eight go

through. I've got to tell you, Morgan Lake should not be afraid of

any of the other athletes in the field, and she is one of the most

experienced in the field at only 19. It is tiring me out, this. They are

catching up. This is vast athletics, this is what we like. The crowd has

been building all evening and that bodes well for the weekend. A big

football match in Belgrade over the weekend but hopefully it will be

pretty poor in here as well. Garcia is in the outside here. To

semifinals for the guys. This guy was really impressive in the

qualifying, Vedel, just 19 years of age. He has the pleasure of leading

out Maslak, who finds himself in lane for him. He decides -- the

defending European champion. The man from the Czech Republic, very

popular. And Maslak will be hoping to qualify here. Rather different to

the women's qualifying. Top four from these two races. No fastest

losers. Jordier of France in lane three. And then the imposing figure

of Brian Gregan in lane two. Incidentally, Ireland won this title

in the shape of David Gillick, no less imposing in 2005 and 2007. He

is here with Irish television. On the inside, Altintas of Turkey, who

actually was quite impressive in qualification. He will be

disappointed to be in lane one. So, Garcia, Vedel, Maslak, it is hard

really to make out which of these two semifinals is the more

difficult. There are three Spaniards and they will be very tough to beat

calm the four by 400 metres. France may well have something to say about

that as well, but I think Spain, the guys have all looked good. Only one

of them, Samuel Garcia, is in this heat in lane six.

A crowded arena here. We are just waiting for a little bit of quiet.

The starter is having a conversation with his team, wanting to make sure

that the track is clear, the most important thing, the speed these

guys hurtle around these 200 metres. Maslak recently ran a quick 20.52,

just outside his national record for the 200 metres at the Czech indoor

Championships. He has got plenty of pace. The problem is with the

starting mechanism down to my left. I can see them about 15 metres from

me. I think someone has pulled the plug out. This team, bless them,

have had a tough day. A long day and a bit of a tough day. Electronic

guns, of course. Has anyone got any coins for the meter? When I say go,

go. That'll do, went it? We could go back to a whistle. Bless him, the

late lamented Stan Long, the first-ever fun run in Gateshead,

that is what he said. When I say go, go. Everyone just stood still.

Didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Does anyone have a

whistle? I have. It's not helping the athletes either. Well, we have

been talking about Maslak and his prowess indoors. So while we are

waiting for the starters to get themselves sorted out, let's have a

look at how good this man is. A little bit of a shaven head on this

occasion. Those sleeves of his have become a familiar figure, of course.

At the world indoor ins pot, that was another great performance. This

is the year rose in Prague and he was so dominant. And then in Poland

again winning. That was a big win for him. I don't think we thought he

was going to win again last year but, a big performance. Well, that

shows how dominant this man has been. He's top of the rankings here.

44th -- 45.8 this year and is definitely the favourite. Not in the

final yet, though. As to negotiate his way through this semi. Really

interested to watch this young Danish runner, Vedel, in five. Away

they go. Maslak, I am sure, will try to get out quickly. He had got past

Vedel. Garcia have attracted down the back straight, the Spaniard in

lane six, but it is Maslak quickest through the first 120 metres. He

will take the break and he will be in the read. So Maslak controlling

it, then Garcia, then Vedel. For go through and they are well spread

out. Sorry, three go free. Geordie eight is in fourth place. There is a

big gap at the moment between him and beat three airhead. Vedel is

going to try to attack Garcia and Maslak looks very comfortable.

Ehrlich 's Vedel. Will he get Garcia? Yes, he does. It didn't

matter anyway. Three of them are going through. But, it's important

in terms of positions. Certainly Maslak going through without any

problems and you cannot see anybody beating him, really. Again, for the

youngster, the 19-year-old, we look for new names and talents and

Denmark might have a pretty good runner on their handset. Yes, two

things we saw there, the obvious ability of Maslak but the talent

also of Vedel taking the giant Garcia on the line. He judged that

very, very well. Garcia will go well -- go through, but the line draw in

the final to be confirmed. Maslak goes out so strong and then likes to

hold on. He didn't really have to hold on there. He eased up over the

line. Vedel getting in there ahead of Garcia on the line. A very good

run by Vedel and to make it through to the final act 19 is a very big

achievement. Something for Denmark to be proud of and look forward to

the years to come. And a personal best for him. 46.6. Just two

hundredths ahead of Garcia. Those three three to the final. Of course

there can only be three. There are only six lanes in the final. The

men's pole vault final is under way and this man, Lisek, the most recent

person to join the six metre club. He broke a poll in his last

competition. It will be interesting to see what he can clear here. 5.17

made to look very easy, of course, for a man who is a six metre jumper.

He has improved this season, it would seem. European bronze two

years ago. Equal fourth in the Olympics last year. Let's have a

look at this. Good, clean effort. Great shots there from the side of

the uprights of the bar. Lisek, a great start from him.

Holzdeppe has quite some pedigree and is a man to watch. Very

comfortable also. It will be a tough match for the medals here at the

European indoors. He would have to say this has one of the strongest

fields of all events. Holzdeppe, 5.70, very comfortable. Drifting off

slightly. Made some slight adjustments in order to go straight

up and down. Clearance at 5.70. And this is Kudlicka, a bronze

medallist before, and he also goes clear. Close to Kudlicka's seasons

best of 5.7 three. He will have to improve on that to get close to the

medals, it would seem. The two poles, we have to keep an eye on. We

have seen one of them, Lisek. Men's pole vault is heating up. This is

what happened earlier. In the warm up. No fault of his own, possibly a

damaged pole. It did look as though he scratched his knee and his hand

and unfortunately for him, those injuries were too much. He hasn't

been able to start here. So, disappointment for the 25-year-old

German. Have a look at this, at the biggest point of pressure, that poll

just gives way. The shock to him, horrendous. He landed safely, but

the cut to his knee, clearly too much for him to continue here at the

European indoors. So, ready for the second semifinal of the men's 400

metres and this is the line-up: three go through automatically. We

have just seen the first semifinal. Alcoa was pretty impressive in his

first round. Holzdeppe has been called some very flattering things.

I think he got his tactics -- Husillos has been called some very

flattering things though I think he got his tactics are little wrong.

There is Tesar, took a relay bronze at the European Indoor Championships

a couple of years ago in Prague, with a big helping hand from Maslak.

And there is Decimus. 29 now, Decimus. Has run 46.89 this season.

From the difficult first lane. We did not see Liemarvin Bonevacia.

He will be a tough man to beat. Another Spaniard on the outside,

Lucas Bua. A Dane, a Spaniard and a cheque athlete going through from

the first semifinal. Two Spaniards here. Liemarvin Bonevacia from the

Netherlands. A bit of a wait. I can see the

starting gun in front of me, firing blanks. I think we are ready now. Or

are we? She is looking up at him in disappointed fashion. Nobody is

working on it. I think the gun is OK. There might be waiting for the

shot put on the far side. They don't want to be put off by anything. A

poll vault attempting the pole vault.

Someone is playing the piano. This is a long wait. I am not entirely

sure for what for the athletes. Diligent raking going on in the pit.

Dragging it across. Let me give you a reminder of the line-up. Banish

indoor champion Husillos, goes in lane three. Liemarvin Bonevacia in

five and Lucas Bua in lane six. Ready. Three to go through to the

final tomorrow. The semifinal of the men's 400

metres. Finally they go. The build-up to

this race is quite something. Lucas Bua went out very strongly in his

heat. Now Liemarvin Bonevacia beginning to make a move before they

break in the home straight. Desolate of France going very strongly. You

can see the effort from Liemarvin Bonevacia. Three to go through.